Adjusting a Playback Device

ABSTRACT

Certain embodiments provide methods and systems for managing a sound profile. An example playback device includes a network interface and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored therein instructions executable by the processor. When executed by the processor, the instructions are to configure the playback device to receive, via the network interface over a local area network (LAN) from a controller device, an instruction. The example playback device is to obtain, based on the instruction, via the network interface from a location outside of the LAN, data comprising a sound profile. The example playback device is to update one or more parameters at the playback device based on the sound profile. The example playback device is to play back an audio signal according to the sound profile.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/676,655, titled “Adjusting a Playback Device,” filed on Aug. 14,2017, and currently pending. U.S. application Ser. No. 15/676,655 is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/552,049, titled “Adjustinga Playback Device,” filed Nov. 24, 2014, and issued on Aug. 15, 2017, asU.S. Pat. No. 9,734,243. U.S. application Ser. No. 14/552,049 is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/272,833, titled “Method andApparatus for Adjusting a Speaker System,” filed Oct. 13, 2011, andissued Dec. 30, 2014, as U.S. Pat. No. 8,923,997. U.S. application Ser.No. 13/272,833 claims priority to U.S. Provisional App. 61/392,918,titled “Method and Apparatus for Adjusting a Loudspeaker, filed Oct. 13,2010, and currently expired. The entire contents of the Ser. No.15/676,655; Ser. No. 14/552,049; Ser. No. 13/272,833; and 61/392,918applications are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND Field of the Invention

The present invention is related to the area of audio devices, and morespecifically related to techniques for adjusting a speaker system orloudspeaker via a network.

Background

Designing and fine tuning of loudspeakers are often a laborious process.In a typical process, certain electrical components have to berepeatedly changed or adjusted to generate a new equalization or newfirmware has to be upgraded on some modern products. Typically duringdevelopment, a loudspeaker is placed inside a large anechoic chamberwhere acoustic measurements are gradually taken. After each measurement,the product is removed from the chamber and brought out to be adjustedand then setup again to be re-measured. The process often takes days orweeks until the final sound of the loudspeaker is determined.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Certain embodiments of the present invention will be readily understoodby the following detailed description in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate likestructural elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows an example configuration in which certain embodiments maybe practiced;

FIG. 2A shows an example functional block diagram of a player inaccordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 2B shows an example of controllers that may be used to remotelycontrol one of more players of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2C shows an example internal functional block diagram of acontroller in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 3 shows an example interface in an embodiment to allow a user tographically adjust various settings via a network;

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart or process of adjusting various settings in aspeaker system; and

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart or process of sharing a profile between tworemotely separated sound systems.

Certain embodiments will be better understood when read in conjunctionwith the provided drawings, which illustrate examples. It should beunderstood, however, that the embodiments are not limited to thearrangements and instrumentality shown in the attached drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS

The detailed description of certain embodiments is presented largely interms of procedures, steps, logic blocks, processing, and other symbolicrepresentations that directly or indirectly resemble the operations ofdata processing devices coupled to networks. These process descriptionsand representations are typically used by those skilled in the art tomost effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled inthe art. Reference herein to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” meansthat a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described inconnection with the embodiment can be included in at least oneembodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” or “in anembodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarilyall referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternativeembodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Further, the orderof blocks in process flowcharts or diagrams representing one or moreembodiments do not inherently indicate any particular order or imply anylimitations.

Certain embodiments provide techniques for adjusting loudspeakers(referred to herein interchangeably as speakers) via the Internet. Theadjustment includes at least tuning, configuration and creation ofcustomized equalizers (EQs). In one embodiment, a graphic interface isprovided to tune a loudspeaker, and allows a user to do quick iterationon the final “sound” of the loudspeaker. In another embodiment, a set ofsettings can be remotely adjusted or shared with another speaker system.

In an example application, when loudspeakers are placed in a listeningenvironment, a customer home or a remote location, the loudspeakerssound can be adjusted remotely by a professional or an experienced userthrough the Internet. This allows a listener to be able to selecthis/her favorite sound from a variety of options, and sometimes sharehis/her sound with another listener remotely located.

In certain embodiments, the loudspeaker incorporates a method to connectthe speaker to the network via a connection, such as Ethernet orwireless 802.11n. For example, the Internet Protocol (IP) address of theloudspeaker is typed into a computer, and the computer screen displays aloudspeaker parameter configuration layout. In certain embodiments, aconfiguration profile can be created to specify configuration values forone or more loudspeaker parameters including tweeter, midrange, woofer,etc. A type, frequency, gain, quality factor, etc., can be set for eachparameter.

Once “logged in” to the loudspeaker, the current settings are loadedinto a webpage and/or other presentation interface, for example. A usercan then adjust any/all of the items in each area. Once the values areentered into each area, the values are updated in “real-time” (orsubstantially real-time accounting for some system processing, storage,and/or transmission delay, for example) on the loud speaker.

In certain embodiments, the configuration webpage can be designedspecifically for the loudspeaker under development. For example, if aloudspeaker includes five transducers, five sections can be quicklycreated such that the webpage has the current number of “tuneable”sections.

Thus, certain embodiments provide for speaker configuration,configuration profile creation, and configuration profile storage. Theconfiguration profile can be referred from one user to another, from onespeaker to another, and so on. A referred profile can be accessed andimplemented at one or more connected speakers to configure the speakersand/or other playback devices for playback output, for example.

Brief Description

Certain embodiments provide a method for managing a sound profile. Theexample method includes accessing a playback device on a network. Theexample method includes displaying a graphic interface to allow a userto adjust the sound profile, wherein the sound profile includes aplurality of parameters for user adjustment. The example method includessaving the sound profile. The example method includes processing anaudio signal at the playback device according to the sound profile,wherein user adjustments to the sound profile are used to configure theplayback device to process the audio signal upon saving the soundprofile.

Certain embodiments provide a computer readable medium including a setof instructions for execution by a computer device, the set ofinstructions, when executed, implementing a method for managing a soundprofile. The example method includes accessing a playback device on anetwork. The example method includes displaying a graphic interface toallow a user to adjust the sound profile, wherein the sound profileincludes a plurality of parameters for user adjustment. The examplemethod includes saving the sound profile. The example method includesprocessing an audio signal at the playback device according to the soundprofile, wherein user adjustments to the sound profile are used toconfigure the playback device to process the audio signal upon savingthe sound profile.

Certain embodiments provide a speaker configuration system. The examplesystem includes a computing device. The example computing deviceincludes an application module to facilitate control functions for aplayback device including access to a sound profile to configure theplayback device. The example computing device includes an interface toallow a user to adjust the sound profile, wherein the sound profileincludes a plurality of playback device parameters for user adjustment.The example computing device is to save the sound profile and facilitateapplication of the sound profile to the playback device to configureoutput of multimedia content via the playback device.

EXAMPLES

Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals refer to likeparts throughout the several views. FIG. 1 shows an exampleconfiguration 100 in which the present invention may be practiced. Theconfiguration may represent, but not be limited to, a part of aresidential home, a business building or a complex with multiple zones.There are a number of multimedia players of which three examples 102,104 and 106 are shown as audio devices. Each of the audio devices may beinstalled or provided in one particular area or zone and hence referredto as a zone player herein.

As used herein, unless explicitly stated otherwise, a track and an audiosource are used interchangeably, an audio source or audio sources are indigital format and can be transported or streamed across a data network.To facilitate the understanding of the present invention, it is assumedthat the configuration 100 represents a home. Thus, the zone players 102and 104 may be located in two of the bedrooms respectively while thezone player 106 may be installed in a living room. All of the zoneplayers 102, 104 and 106 are coupled directly or indirectly to a datanetwork 108 that is also referred to as ad hoc network formed by aplurality of zone players and one or more controllers. In addition, acomputing device 110 is shown to be coupled on the network 108. Inreality, any other devices such as a home gateway device, a storagedevice, or an MP3 player may be coupled to the network 108 as well.

The network 108 may be a wired network, a wireless network or acombination of both. In one example, all devices including the zoneplayers 102, 104 and 106 are wirelessly coupled to the network 108(e.g., based on an industry standard such as IEEE 802.11). In yetanother example, all devices including the zone players 102, 104 and 106are part of a local area network that communicates with a wide areanetwork (e.g., the Internet).

All devices on the network 108 may be configured to download and storeaudio sources or receive streaming audio sources. For example, thecomputing device 110 can download audio sources from the Internet andstore the downloaded sources locally for sharing with other devices onthe Internet or the network 108. The zone player 106 can be configuredto receive streaming audio source and share the source with otherdevices. Shown as a stereo system, the device 112 is configured toreceive an analog source (e.g., from broadcasting) or retrieve a digitalsource (e.g., from a compact disk). The analog sources can be convertedto digital sources. In certain embodiments, all audio sources,regardless of where they are located or how they are received, may beshared among the devices on the network 108.

Any device on the network 108 may be configured to control operations ofplayback devices, such as the zone players 102, 104 and 106. Inparticular, one or more controlling devices 140 and 142 are used tocontrol zone players 102, 104 and 106 as shown in FIG. 1. Thecontrolling devices 140 and 142 may be portable, for example. Thecontrolling devices 140 and 142 may remotely control the zone playersvia a wireless data communication interface (e.g., infrared, radio,wireless standard IEEE 802.11b or 802.11g, etc.). In an embodiment,besides controlling an individual zone player, the controlling device140 or 142 is configured to manage audio sources and othercharacteristics of all the zone players regardless where the controllingdevice 140 or 142 is located in a house or a confined complex.

In certain embodiments, a playback device may communicate with and/orcontrol other playback devices. For example, one zone player may providedata to one or more other zone players. A zone player may serve as amaster device in one configuration and a slave device in anotherconfiguration, for example.

Also shown is a computing device 144 provided to communicate with one orall of the devices on the network 108. The computing device 144 may be adesktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet, a smart phone or anycomputing device with a display screen. According to an embodiment, eachof the networked devices on the network 108 has an IP address. Thecomputing device 144 is used by a user to access one or all of the zoneplayers to adjust a sound profile. Depending on implementation, thesound profile includes various filters, frequencies, equalizers, gainsor other factors that may affect a listening experience.

Referring now to FIG. 2A, there is shown an example functional blockdiagram of a playback device, such as a zone player 200. The zone player200 includes a network interface 202, a processor 204, a memory 206, anaudio processing circuit 210, a setting module 212, an audio amplifier214 and a set of speakers. The network interface 202 facilitates a dataflow between a data network (e.g., the data network 108 of FIG. 1) andthe zone player 200 and typically executes a special set of rules (e.g.,a protocol) to send data back and forth. One example protocol is TCP/IP(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) commonly used in theInternet. In general, a network interface manages the assembling of anaudio source or file into smaller packets that are transmitted over thedata network or reassembles received packets into the original source orfile. In addition, the network interface 202 handles the address part ofeach packet so that it gets to the right destination or interceptspackets destined for the zone player 200.

In the example of FIG. 2A, the network interface 202 may include eitherone or both of a wireless interface 216 and a wired interface 217. Thewireless interface 216, such as a radiofrequency (RF) interface,provides network interface functions wirelessly for the zone player 200to communicate with other devices in accordance with a communicationprotocol (such as the wireless standard IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b or802.11g). The wired interface 217 provides network interface functionsby a wired connection (e.g., an Ethernet cable). In an embodiment, azone player, referred to as an access zone player, includes both of theinterfaces 216 and 217, and other zone players include only the RFinterface 216. Thus these other zone players communicate with otherdevices on a network or retrieve audio sources via the access zoneplayer. The processor 204 is configured to control the operation ofother parts in the zone player 200. The memory 206 may be loaded withone or more software modules that can be executed by the processor 204to achieve desired tasks.

In the example of FIG. 2A, the audio processing circuit 210 resemblesmost of the circuitry in an audio playback device and includes one ormore digital-to-analog converters (DAC), an audio preprocessing part, anaudio enhancement part or a digital signal processor and others. Inoperation, when an audio source (e.g., audio source) is retrieved viathe network interface 202, the audio source is processed in the audioprocessing circuit 210 to produce analog audio signals. The processedanalog audio signals are then provided to the audio amplifier 214 forplayback on speakers. In addition, the audio processing circuit 210 mayinclude necessary circuitry to process analog signals as inputs toproduce digital signals for sharing with other devices on a network.

Depending on an exact implementation, the setting module 212 may beimplemented within the audio processing circuit 210 or as a combinationof hardware and software. The setting module 212 is provided to accessdifferent sound profiles stored in the memory 206 of the zone player andwork with the audio processing circuit 210 to effectuate the soundquality or sound experience.

In the example of FIG. 2A, the audio amplifier 214 includes an analogcircuit that powers the provided analog audio signals to drive one ormore speakers 216. In an embodiment, the amplifier 214 is automaticallypowered off when there is no incoming data packets representing an audiosource or powered on when the zone player is configured to detect thepresence of the data packets.

In the example of FIG. 2A, the speakers 216 may be in differentconfigurations. For example, the speakers may be a configuration of:

1) 2-channel: the stereo audio player is connected to two speakers: leftand right speakers to form a stereo sound;

2) 3-channel (or 2.1 sound effects): the stereo audio player isconnected to three speakers: left and right speakers and a subwoofer toform a stereo sound; and

3) 6-channel (or 5.1 sound effects): the stereo audio player isconnected to five speakers: front left, front right, center, rear leftand rear right speakers and a subwoofer to form a surrounding sound.

Unless specifically stated herein, a device being adjusted includes oneor more speakers. When a profile is determined, a sound may be producedcollectively from the speakers, from one of the speakers, and so on.

Referring now to FIG. 2B, there is shown an example of a controller 240,which may correspond to the controlling device 140 or 142 of FIG. 1. Thecontroller 240 may be used to facilitate the control of multi-mediaapplications, automation and others in a living complex. In particular,the controller 240 is configured to facilitate a selection of aplurality of audio sources available on the network, controllingoperations of one or more zone players (e.g., the zone player 200)through a RF interface corresponding to the wireless interface 216 ofFIG. 2A. According to one embodiment, the wireless interface is based onan industry standard (e.g., infrared, radio, wireless standard IEEE802.11a, 802.11b or 802.11g). When a particular audio source is beingplayed in the zone player 200, a picture, if there is any, associatedwith the audio source may be transmitted from the zone player 200 to thecontroller 240 for display. In an embodiment, the controller 240 is usedto select an audio source for playback. In another embodiment, thecontroller 240 is used to manage (e.g., add, delete, move, save, ormodify) a playlist.

In the example of FIG. 2B, the user interface for the controller 240includes a screen 242 (e.g., a LCD screen) and a set of functionalbuttons as follows: a “zones” button 244, a “back” button 246, a “music”button 248, a scroll wheel 250, “ok” button 252, a set of transportcontrol buttons 254, a mute button 262, a volume up/down button 264, aset of soft buttons 266 corresponding to the labels 268 displayed on thescreen 242.

In the example of FIG. 2B, the screen 242 displays various screen menusin response to a selection by a user. In an embodiment, the “zones”button 244 activates a zone management screen or “Zone Menu” to allow auser to group players in a number of desired zones so that the playersare synchronized to play an identical play list or tracks. The “back”button 246 may lead to different actions depending on the currentscreen. In an embodiment, the “back” button triggers the current screendisplay to go back to a previous one. In another embodiment, the ‘back”button negates the user's erroneous selection. The “music” button 248activates a music menu, which allows the selection of an audio source(e.g., a song track) to be added to a playlist (e.g., a music queue) forplayback.

In the example of FIG. 2B, the scroll wheel 250 is used for selecting anitem within a list, whenever a list is presented on the screen 242. Whenthe items in the list are too many to be accommodated in one screendisplay, a scroll indicator such as a scroll bar or a scroll arrow isdisplayed beside the list. When the scroll indicator is displayed, auser may rotate the scroll wheel 250 to either choose a displayed itemor display a hidden item in the list. The “ok” button 252 is use toconfirm the user selection on the screen 242 or activate a playback ofan item.

In the example of FIG. 2B, there are three transport buttons 254, whichare used to control the effect of the currently playing track. Forexample, the functions of the transport buttons may include play/pauseand forward/rewind a track, move forward to the next track, or movebackward to the previous track. According to an embodiment, pressing oneof the volume control buttons such as the mute button 262 or the volumeup/down button 264 activates a volume panel. In addition, there arethree soft buttons 266 that can be activated in accordance with thelabels 268 on the screen 242. It can be understood that, in a multi-zonesystem, there may be multiple audio sources being played respectively inmore than one zone players. The music transport functions describedherein shall apply selectively to one of the sources when acorresponding zone player is selected.

FIG. 2C illustrates an internal functional block diagram of an examplecontroller 270, which may correspond to the controller 240 of FIG. 2B.The screen 272 on the controller 270 may be a LCD screen. The screen 272communicates with and is commanded by a screen driver 274 that iscontrolled by a microcontroller (e.g., a processor) 276. The memory 282may be loaded with one or more application modules 284 that can beexecuted by the microcontroller 276 with or without a user input via theuser interface 278 to achieve desired tasks.

In an embodiment, an application module is configured to facilitateother control functions for the zone players, for example, to initiate adownloading command to receive a sound profile from another user or aspeaker system. For example, a first user wants to share with a seconduser his sound profile created specifically for a type of jazz music.The second user can use the controller 270 to access the system (e.g.,the system in FIG. 1) of the first user to receive the profile, providedthe first user allows. The received profile can be saved and put intoeffect in the system being used by the second user. As a result, bothsystems of the first and second users produce substantially similarsound effects when a jazz music is played back.

In operation, when the microcontroller 276 executes one of theapplication modules 284, the screen driver 274 generates control signalsto drive screen 272 to display an application specific user interfaceaccordingly, more of which will be described below.

In the example of FIG. 2C, the controller 270 includes a networkinterface 280 referred to as a RF interface 280 that facilitateswireless communication with a zone player via a corresponding wirelessinterface or RF interface thereof. The controller 270 may control one ormore zone players, such as 102, 104 and 106 of FIG. 1. Nevertheless,there may be more than one controllers, each preferably in a zone (e.g.,a room) and configured to control any one and all of the zone players.

It should be pointed out that the controller 240 in FIG. 2B is not theonly controlling device that may practice certain embodiments. Otherdevices that provide the equivalent control functions (e.g., a computingdevice, a PDA, a hand-held device, and a laptop computer, etc.) may alsobe configured to practice certain embodiments. In the above description,unless otherwise specifically described, keys or buttons are generallyreferred to as either the physical buttons or soft buttons, enabling auser to enter a command or data.

FIG. 3 shows an example interface 300 for a user to create, adjust orupdate a sound profile. When the profile 300 is saved, variousparameters in the profile 301 are updated. When the profile 300 isselected, the parameters are put into use and cause an audio signal tobe processed accordingly (e.g., to band-pass certain frequencies). Incertain embodiments, a profile 300 may be selected from a plurality ofprofiles via a controller. In certain embodiments, a profile 300 may besent from one user or system to another user or system to configure oneor more speakers at the receiving system. In certain embodiments, aprofile 300 may be requested by a user or system.

As illustrated in the example of FIG. 3, the profile 300 may include apreset name or reference 301, an overall gain 303 (e.g., in decibels(dB)), and one or more speaker component settings 305, 307, 309 (e.g.,tweeter, midrange, woofer, and so on). For each component, one or moreparameters (e.g., type, frequency (e.g., Hertz), quality factor, channelgain (e.g., dB), delay (e.g., samples), phase, limiter, (e.g.,threshold, attack (e.g., microseconds), release (e.g., milliseconds),etc.), softclip (e.g., threshold, attack (e.g., microseconds), release(e.g., milliseconds), etc.), and so on, may be specified. Thus, usingthe example interface of FIG. 3, one or more parameters for one or moresettings of a speaker profile 300 may be set. In certain embodiments,the profile 300 may be initialized with factory or default values andmodified by a user, software program, and so on via the interface.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart or process 400 of adjusting a profile to beused in a networked audio device. At block 405, the process 400 begins.At block 410, it is determined whether a playback device is to be loggedin. If yes, at block 415, a default page is displayed. If no, then theprocess 400 continues to check for a playback device (e.g., zone player)to be logged in to the configuration system.

At block 420, one or more settings are adjusted (e.g., frequencies indifferent bands, and so on). At block 425, it is determined whether thesetting(s) are to be saved at the device. If not, the process 400continues to adjust settings until a desired configuration of settingsis reached. If so, at block 430, the setting(s) are saved in a memory inthe playback device. Settings may be associated with a name or otheridentifier (e.g., “Jazz”, “Rock”, “Radio”, and so on). Saved settingsmay form a speaker profile, for example. Settings may be shared withanother, remotely located speaker system via the profile, for example.

At block 435, the playback device is configured based on the setting(s).For example, a profile and/or other stored settings may be selected toconfigure the playback device accordingly. At block 440, after theplayback device is configured, the process 400 ends. The playback devicemay then be used to playback multimedia content, for example. In certainembodiments, the playback device may be configured or re-configuredbased on profile settings while multimedia content is being played back.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart or process of sharing a profile between tworemotely separated sound systems. At block 505, the process 500 begins.At block 510, a speaker profile is saved. For example, a Joe's JazzProfile” sound profile for a playback device or other speaker isconfigured and saved by a user via an interface, such as the exampleprofile interface 300 of FIG. 3. At block 515, the profile is shared.The profile may be shared with another user, another device, and so on.For example, a copy of the profile may be sent to a user, device, and soon. Alternatively, a link to the profile may be sent to a user, device,and so on.

At block 520, the profile is read. For example, the profile is accessedby a playback device at a location remote from a location at which theprofile was created. The playback device, a controller associated withthe playback device, or both the controller and the playback device readthe profile. At block 525, the playback device is configured based onsetting(s) in the profile. For example, a profile and/or other storedsettings may be selected to configure the playback device accordingly.

At block 530, it is determined whether the profile is to be saved at theplayback device. If so, at block 535, the profile is saved at theplayback device. At block 540, after the playback device is configured,the process 500 ends. The playback device may then be used to playbackmultimedia content, for example. In certain embodiments, the playbackdevice may be configured or re-configured based on profile settingswhile multimedia content is being played back.

The processes, sequences or steps and features discussed above and inthe appendix are related to each other and each is believedindependently novel in the art. The disclosed processes and sequencesmay be performed alone or in any combination to provide a novel andunobvious system or a portion of a system. It should be understood thatthe processes and sequences in combination yield an equallyindependently novel combination as well, even if combined in theirbroadest sense (e.g., with less than the specific manner in which eachof the processes or sequences has been reduced to practice in thedisclosure herein).

The forgoing and attached are illustrative of variousaspects/embodiments of the present invention, the disclosure of specificsequence/steps and the inclusion of specifics with regard to broadermethods and systems are not intended to limit the scope of the inventionwhich finds itself in the various permutations of the features disclosedand described herein as conveyed to one of skill in the art.

1. A system comprising: a computing system configured to communicatewith one or more playback devices via the Internet; and a playbackdevice comprising: at least one processor; at least one networkinterface configured to communicatively connect the playback device to alocal area network (LAN); one or more speakers; and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium; and program instructions stored on thenon-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the atleast one processor such that the playback device is configured to:receive a sound profile from the computing system via the Internet;determine, based on the received sound profile, one or more audioplayback settings that, when implemented by the playback device, affectsound output by the playback device via the one or more speakers; playaudio content via the one or more speakers according to the determinedone or more audio playback settings; while playing audio content via theone or more speakers according to the determined one or more audioplayback settings, adjust at least one audio playback setting of thedetermined one or more audio playback settings; and after adjusting theat least one audio playback setting of the determined one or more audioplayback settings, play the audio content via the one or more speakersaccording to the adjusted at least one audio playback setting of thedetermined one or more audio playback settings.
 2. The system of claim1, wherein the sound profile comprises the one or more audio playbacksettings.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the sound profilecorresponds to a particular genre of audio content.
 4. The system ofclaim 1, further comprising program instructions stored on thenon-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the atleast one processor such that the playback device is configured to:receive a command to play audio content from a controller devicecommunicatively connected to the playback device via the LAN.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the one or more audio playback settingscomprises a gain.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or moreaudio playback settings comprises an equalization setting.
 7. The systemof claim 1, wherein the one or more audio playback settings comprises atleast one of a quality factor, delay, phase, limiter, release, softclip,and release setting.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the programinstructions that are executable by the at least one processor such thatthe playback device is configured to adjust at least one audio playbacksetting of the determined one or more audio playback settings compriseprogram instructions that are executable by the at least one processorsuch that the playback device is configured to adjust at least one audioplayback setting of the determined one or more audio playback settingswithout receiving a command from a controller device to adjust the atleast one audio playback setting.
 9. The system of claim 1, furthercomprising program instructions stored on the non-transitorycomputer-readable medium that are executable by the at least oneprocessor such that the playback device is configured to: while playingthe audio content according to the adjusted one or more audio playbacksettings of the one or more audio playback settings, receive one or morecommands to adjust one or more audio playback settings of the adjustedone or more audio playback settings.
 10. The system of claim 9, whereinthe program instructions that are executable by the at least oneprocessor such that the playback device is configured to receive one ormore commands to adjust one or more audio playback settings of theadjusted one or more audio playback settings comprise programinstructions that are executable by the at least one processor such thatthe playback device is configured to receive one or more commands toadjust one or more audio playback settings of the adjusted one or moreaudio playback settings from a controller device configured to controlthe playback device.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein the soundprofile is a first sound profile, the system further comprising programinstructions stored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium thatare executable by the at least one processor such that the playbackdevice is configured to: while playing the audio content via the one ormore speakers according to the adjusted one or more audio playbacksettings of the one or more audio playback settings of the first soundprofile, receive a second sound profile from the computing system viathe Internet; and after receiving the second sound profile from thecomputing system via the Internet, play the audio content according toone or more audio playback settings of the second sound profile.
 12. Thesystem of claim 1, further comprising program instructions stored on thenon-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the atleast one processor such that the playback device is configured to:while playing the audio content via the one or more speakers accordingto the adjusted at least one audio playback setting of the determinedone or more audio playback settings, determine whether to continue usingthe one or more audio playback settings; in response to determining tocontinue using the one or more audio playback settings, continue to usethe one or more audio playback settings at the playback device; and inresponse to determining not to continue using the one or more audioplayback settings, further adjust the one or more audio playbacksettings at the playback device.
 13. The system of claim 1, furthercomprising: a content server configured to transmit the audio content tothe playback device.
 14. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least oneprocessor is at least one first processor, the non-transitorycomputer-readable medium is a first non-transitory computer readablemedium, and wherein the computing system comprises: at least one secondprocessor; and a second non-transitory computer-readable medium; andprogram instructions stored on the second non-transitorycomputer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one secondprocessor such that the computing system is configured to: store aplurality of sound profiles; receive a request for the sound profilefrom the playback device; and in response to receiving the request forthe sound profile from the playback device, transmit the sound profileto the playback device.
 15. The system of claim 1, wherein the playbackdevice is a first playback device, wherein the system further comprisesa second playback device, and wherein the program instructions that areexecutable by the at least one processor such that the playback deviceis configured to play audio content via the one or more speakersaccording to the determined one or more audio playback settings compriseprogram instructions that are executable by the at least one processorsuch that the playback device is configured to play the audio contentvia the one or more speakers according to the determined one or moreaudio playback settings in synchrony with the second playback device;and wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at leastone processor such that the playback device is configured to play theaudio content via the one or more speakers according to the adjusted atleast one audio playback setting of the determined one or more audioplayback settings comprise program instructions that are executable bythe at least one processor such that the playback device is configuredto play the audio content via the one or more speakers according to theadjusted at least one audio playback setting of the determined one ormore audio playback settings in synchrony with the second playbackdevice.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the program instructionsthat are executable by the at least one processor such that the playbackdevice is configured to adjust at least one audio playback setting ofthe determined one or more audio playback settings comprise programinstructions that are executable by the at least one processor such thatthe playback device is configured to adjust at least one audio playbacksetting of the determined one or more audio playback settings of (i) thefirst playback device and (ii) the second playback device.
 17. Aplayback device comprising: at least one processor; at least one networkinterface configured to communicatively connect the playback device to alocal area network (LAN); one or more speakers; and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium; and program instructions stored on thenon-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the atleast one processor such that the playback device is configured to:receive a sound profile from a computing system via the Internet;determine, based on the received sound profile, one or more audioplayback settings that, when implemented by the playback device, affectsound output by the playback device via the one or more speakers; playaudio content via the one or more speakers according to the determinedone or more audio playback settings; while playing audio content via theone or more speakers according to the determined one or more audioplayback settings, adjust at least one audio playback setting of thedetermined one or more audio playback settings; and after adjusting theat least one audio playback setting of the determined one or more audioplayback settings, play the audio content via the one or more speakersaccording to the adjusted at least one audio playback setting of thedetermined one or more audio playback settings.
 18. The playback deviceof claim 17, wherein the sound profile comprises the one or more audioplayback settings.
 19. The playback device of claim 17, wherein thesound profile corresponds to a particular genre of audio content. 20.The playback device of claim 17, further comprising program instructionsstored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium that areexecutable by the at least one processor such that the playback deviceis configured to: receive a command to play audio content from acontroller device communicatively connected to the playback device viathe LAN.
 21. The playback device of claim 17, wherein the one or moreaudio playback settings comprises a gain.
 22. The playback device ofclaim 17, wherein the one or more audio playback settings comprises anequalization setting.
 23. The playback device of claim 17, wherein theone or more audio playback settings comprises at least one of a qualityfactor, delay, phase, limiter, release, softclip, and release setting.24. The playback device of claim 17, wherein the program instructionsthat are executable by the at least one processor such that the playbackdevice is configured to adjust at least one audio playback setting ofthe determined one or more audio playback settings comprise programinstructions that are executable by the at least one processor such thatthe playback device is configured to adjust at least one audio playbacksetting of the determined one or more audio playback settings withoutreceiving a command from a controller device to adjust the at least oneaudio playback setting.
 25. The playback device of claim 17, furthercomprising program instructions stored on the non-transitorycomputer-readable medium that are executable by the at least oneprocessor such that the playback device is configured to: while playingthe audio content according to the adjusted one or more audio playbacksettings of the one or more audio playback settings, receive one or morecommands to adjust one or more audio playback settings of the adjustedone or more audio playback settings.
 26. The playback device of claim25, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at leastone processor such that the playback device is configured to receive oneor more commands to adjust one or more audio playback settings of theadjusted one or more audio playback settings comprise programinstructions that are executable by the at least one processor such thatthe playback device is configured to receive one or more commands toadjust one or more audio playback settings of the adjusted one or moreaudio playback settings from a controller device configured to controlthe playback device.
 27. The playback device of claim 17, wherein thesound profile is a first sound profile, the playback device furthercomprising program instructions stored on the non-transitorycomputer-readable medium that are executable by the at least oneprocessor such that the playback device is configured to: while playingthe audio content via the one or more speakers according to the adjustedone or more audio playback settings of the one or more audio playbacksettings of the first sound profile, receive a second sound profile fromthe computing system via the Internet; and after receiving the secondsound profile from the computing system via the Internet, play the audiocontent according to one or more audio playback settings of the secondsound profile.
 28. The playback device of claim 17, further comprisingprogram instructions stored on the non-transitory computer-readablemedium that are executable by the at least one processor such that theplayback device is configured to: while playing the audio content viathe one or more speakers according to the adjusted at least one audioplayback setting of the determined one or more audio playback settings,determine whether to continue using the one or more audio playbacksettings; in response to determining to continue using the one or moreaudio playback settings, continue to use the one or more audio playbacksettings at the playback device; and in response to determining not tocontinue using the one or more audio playback settings, further adjustthe one or more audio playback settings at the playback device.
 29. Theplayback device of claim 17, wherein the playback device is a firstplayback device, and wherein the program instructions that areexecutable by the at least one processor such that the playback deviceis configured to play audio content via the one or more speakersaccording to the determined one or more audio playback settings compriseprogram instructions that are executable by the at least one processorsuch that the playback device is configured to play the audio contentvia the one or more speakers according to the determined one or moreaudio playback settings in synchrony with a second playback device; andwherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least oneprocessor such that the playback device is configured to play the audiocontent via the one or more speakers according to the adjusted at leastone audio playback setting of the determined one or more audio playbacksettings comprise program instructions that are executable by the atleast one processor such that the playback device is configured to playthe audio content via the one or more speakers according to the adjustedat least one audio playback setting of the determined one or more audioplayback settings in synchrony with the second playback device.
 30. Theplayback device of claim 29, wherein the program instructions that areexecutable by the at least one processor such that the playback deviceis configured to adjust at least one audio playback setting of thedetermined one or more audio playback settings comprise programinstructions that are executable by the at least one processor such thatthe playback device is configured to adjust at least one audio playbacksetting of the determined one or more audio playback settings of (i) thefirst playback device and (ii) the second playback device.